XIII

Fortune-tellers and other mystics have a way of popping up when dark magic has been used. I wish I understood how they know a spell has been cast. I just stumble into these cases, and I would prefer to see them coming. Maybe even avoid a few.

In my earlier days as a paranormal detective, it would have been easy for me to dismiss the fortune-teller as being something Mage entirely made up. There was no trace of him or her. Mage could have run away and left the journals to throw me off. But my seasoned instincts told me otherwise.

Plus, I have a tangible reason to believe the fortune-teller is real. The magic involved in Mage’s solution was not dark. This was a power not available to everyone. And if you could summon the power, it still took skill to wield it properly.

The trap was made out of a jewelry box. Not exactly something as inconspicuous as a ring, but it was a common enough object that no one would think to look for a person inside of it.

It takes years of study in order to make a trap as complicated as the jewelry box. These contraptions were something I had heard about but never seen in person until now. I still don’t know how it works, and I take plenty of caution not to activate it.

Mage’s notes were not helpful either. They mention that the jewelry box was one part of her plan, but she did not elaborate on the rest of the details. Including how she would flush the nanny out from hiding.

If I were to guess, she waited for the nanny to come to her. Or she tried to get between the nanny and what she wanted.

I asked Henry what he thought, and he said he wasn’t sure, but he also sounded a bit evasive.

In the end, Mage had to get close enough to the nanny to spring the trap. How and where it played out might have been helpful, but I have enough to have a good idea of what happened.

Things didn’t go as planned. Whether the trap captured both of them or just Mage, I don’t know. But my guess is that Mage is now residing inside the jewelry box.